


Suspended Judgement

by Draknowin



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Melty Gaster PoV, probably consistently short chapters, reset shenanigans, what am I even doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 01:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6544066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draknowin/pseuds/Draknowin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I have watched the Underground for an impossible amount of time.<br/>The timeline has reset again and again, all at the whim of a child.<br/>... this timeline... looks particularly interesting.<br/>Perhaps... one more time...</p><p>... what do you think? Care to observe with me?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Suspended Judgement

The Judgement Hall is all that’s left, the final obstacle before them.

They’ve been here many times, always meeting the Judge to have their fate determined. Kind-hearted actions lead to a bittersweet ending. ‘Unsure’ actions – killing in self-defense, or even not quite exterminating them all – lead to a fitting ending. But genocide… clearing away every single _creature_ in these caverns… now, _that_ ending is interesting no matter how many times they try.

“the expression that you’re wearing…”  
“…”  
“… you’re really kind of a freak, huh?”

As usual, the Judge wastes no time with fancy introductions. He leaps straight into the fray, metaphorically. More literally, he unleashes those oh-so-familiar draconic skulls on the human, cracking the halls with every avoided blast. Deceptively dangerous bones sail through the air and pierce the ground, walls and ceiling, all in an attempt to impale his opponent.

All in all, it’s a routine battle. The human ducks and weaves through attacks, slashing through the air with their trusty dagger despite knowing it will never land until the end… a battle seen countless times. Minor variations here and there, but the end result is always the same.

Always the same, that is, until something changes.

The gauntlet of attacks comes to a climactic end, predictably with the Judge overexerting himself and leaving himself vulnerable. The human pushes through the magic holding them back, manages to swing once – the Judge predicts this – and then once again. The second swing, however, is not an attack but a motion to disarm themselves. The dagger flies to the tiled floor, an action halting all parties involved.

**_Curious._ **

The Judge is surprised, of course, but makes an attempt to cover it up. “heh… now you decide to put that thing down? gotta say… you’ve got one hell of a sense of timing.” Without even granting a chance to speak or ACT, he draws enough magic to conjure one final cage of bones to impale the hesitating human. He stands, exhausted, over their dying body and prepares his scripted, taunting line… but does not speak it. He feels sick, not triumphant.

How can he feel otherwise? Multiple dozens of RESETs, fragments of memories patched together into true remembrance, and plain deductive reasoning have taught him enough about the true circumstances. He is forced once again to kill a friend, a child, someone who once did so much good.

But those things, he has long since become numb to. Clearly, something else must weigh on his soul now. Truly, the cause is simple: the eyes. In the moment of hesitation in the human – the moment he took to kill them – they had not the eyes of a murderous creature… but the eyes of a terrified child. The eyes of a horrified, old friend.

I choose that moment to dip out of the timeline before it can ReLoad, if the human even has that intention. Safely back in the void between times, I have an eternity to process the events I witnessed. Clearly, the Fallen Child would not have hesitated without a good- no, a _serious_ cause. Thus, I begin to list possibilities.

Remorse for their actions? Unlikely to the point of nigh-impossible. They have never shown an inclination for mercy or regret, quite the opposite. One might refer to them as sadistic, and one might be correct. Next.

Fear of elimination? Equally unlikely, possibly more so. With Determination, they have rendered themselves nearly impossible to be rid of. That Determination can be removed, but the Judge has no ability to do so. Nor an ability to suspend the effect, rendering that possibility null and void. Next.

Outside – or in this case, inside – interference? The most likely option, though still unlikely at this stage. Most recent analysis recalls nearly one hundred and fifty Resets since the Fallen Child’s control. Resistance has been nearly non-existent since Reset Sixty-Two.

Regardless, that remains the most likely scenario. This, however, leads to more questions. If they interfered, why now? Much more difficult to answer. To do so accurately would require access to the human’s thoughts and perceptions, a feat currently out of my reach. Speculation will have to be made.

. . .

. . .

Only one possibility reveals itself to me, and it is improbable enough to nearly discard immediately. There is a 0.021% chance that, despite all factors rendering it virtually impossible, the human detected an Outside Effect. The ripple made when something – or some _one_ – enters a timeline from Outside is nearly imperceptible. _Nearly_. Truly attentive individuals can spot the changes in the instant before their perception is modified to accept them as ‘always being that way’.

I made particularly sure to not interact with anything in the timeline. No Outside Effects should have taken root, as I allowed the timeline to take whatever course it would take, _naturally_. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, this leaves only a single possibility. The human must have seen _me_.

That revelation is enough to make me pause, and even further, make me truly contemplate the potential results of this. What astounds me is that I simply… cannot. Through all of the timelines I have observed, this particular sequence of events has never occurred. For the first time in a period incalculable by existing instruments, I feel… interested? Yes, but something more than that. I am interested in many things. No, the term is something else…

Invested. That is it. I have an opportunity to not only affect a timeline, but have interaction directly with an inhabitant. The concept of interacting directly with the human, something I cannot recall ever occurring, has my full attention. Strangely, as I contemplate my next actions, I notice an unusual ‘soft’ burning sensation – tactile perception, something I have missed – within the mass of slime-like matter I am reduced to. It takes me a moment to recognize it, and when I place it I am only further invested in this course of action.

As I choose a point to insert myself into the Reset timeline – interesting, not ReLoaded – I cannot help but grin with excitement. I, Royal Scientist W.D Gaster, find myself feeling the spark of Determination.


End file.
